The influence of threat on perceived spatial distance to out-group members

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

  • Chiara Fini
  • Pieter Verbeke
  • Sophie Sieber
  • Agnes Moors
  • Marcel Brass
  • Oliver Genschow

A classic example of discriminatory behavior is keeping spatial distance from an out-group member. To explain this social behavior, the literature offers two alternative theoretical options that we label as the “threat hypothesis” and the “shared-experience hypothesis”. The former relies on studies showing that out-group members create a sense of alertness. Consequently, potentially threatening out-group members are represented as spatially close allowing the prevention of costly errors. The latter hypothesis suggests that the observation of out-group members reduces the sharing of somatosensory experiences and, thus, increases the perceived physical distance between oneself and others. In the present paper, we pitted the two hypotheses against each other. In Experiment 1, Caucasian participants expressed multiple implicit “Near/Far” spatial categorization judgments from a Black-African Avatar and a White-Caucasian Avatar located in a 3D environment. Results indicate that the Black-African Avatar was categorized as closer to oneself, as compared with the White-Caucasian Avatar, providing support for “the threat hypothesis”. In Experiment 2, we tested to which degree perceived threat contributes to this categorization bias by manipulating the avatar’s perceived threat orthogonally to group membership. The results indicate that irrespective of group membership, threatening avatars were categorized as being closer to oneself as compared with no threatening avatars. This suggests that provided information about a person and not the mere group membership influences perceived distance to the person.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
ZeitschriftPsychological Research
Jahrgang84
Ausgabenummer3
Seiten (von - bis)757-764
Anzahl der Seiten8
ISSN0340-0727
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 01.04.2020
Extern publiziertJa

Bibliographische Notiz

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

DOI

Zuletzt angesehen

Publikationen

  1. Article 71 CISG
  2. Demographic change in work organizations
  3. Consumer concerns about drinking water in an area with high levels of naturally occurring arsenic in groundwater, and the implications for managing health risks
  4. Discussion Report: The Proposal for a Directive on the Single-Member Private Limited Liability Company
  5. Article 69 CISG
  6. Collective intentionality in entrepreneurship-as-practice
  7. Wende zur Nachhaltigkeit
  8. A holistic approach to expatriate management
  9. Untersuchung zur "Vollen Halbtagsschule"
  10. Vom Cassislikör zur E-Commerce-Richtlinie
  11. Intentions and synergies: The cases of control and speed
  12. Development from the Margins
  13. The Agrodiversity Experiment
  14. The Concept of Personal Initiative
  15. Mentoring in schulischen Praxisphasen
  16. Zufall mit System
  17. Expectation, Motivation and Willingness to Prolong Working Life of German Workers
  18. Framing climate uncertainty
  19. Thermodynamic models
  20. Doppelrepräsentation und mathematische Begabung
  21. Zur Situation der Informatik
  22. Democratization
  23. Where you search is what you get
  24. Digital Media Facades for Lively Public Spaces
  25. Evaluation und Evaluationsforschung
  26. Evolution of microstructure and hardness of AE42 alloy after heat treatments
  27. Biochar decreased rhizodeposits stabilization via opposite effects on bacteria and fungi
  28. #3 Unstable Infrastructures
  29. Vorbemerkung zu den §§ 15 ff AktG
  30. Challenges and opportunities for grassland restoration: A global perspective of best practices in the era of climate change
  31. Evolutionäres Management für den ewigen Frühling
  32. Uneven distribution of phytodiversity in NE German dry grassland communities
  33. Assessment of key competencies
  34. Antibiotics in the aquatic environment - A review - Part II
  35. Julius Meier-Graefe -" a laconic art historian"
  36. A stakeholder theory perspective on business models: Value creation for sustainability